Archer (Leaves of a Maple #1) by Haley Jenner

Archer Dean taught me how it feels to be loved. Really loved. The happily ever after, fairy-tale type love. But he also taught me what real heartbreak was. He ripped away my happiness, took it from me without a backward glance. He left me alone and broken with no idea how to rebuild. No fight left in me to want to.

Annabelle Edwards was a light in my world of darkness. She changed the way my heart beat, she let me believe in love. But the thing about darkness is that it’s suffocating and without warning, the light that you rely so heavily on, can be extinguished by the power of your own shadows.

Our story is about pain. About fighting through feelings that can sometimes be greater than love.

Fear. Anger. Hurt. Sadness.

Our story is aching. It’s passionate. It’s consuming.

We’ve felt loss. Felt abandoned by one another. We’ve felt betrayed. Lost. But we fought. Against our love. For our love. Together. Apart. We’ve done it all. We’ve fought for our love to exist. For it to survive.

It’s been a broken road. Hopeless at times. Full and seamless at others.

We’ve been through hell and we have to trust that our love is strong enough to overcome anything.

ellie's $0.02:

Fuckkkkk... This one is heart breaking, heart wrenching, heart throbbing, heart filled. Ugh. So much hearts.

This is honestly an EXCEPTIONAL book. It took a toll on my emotions and I wasn't sure if I needed a stiff drink or a stiffie at the end, but it was all worth it.

The characters were real. They were descriptive. And while Archer was absolutely fucking infuriating at times, the mental POV going on at the same time as his outward actions explained SO MUCH. And made it easier to stomach (kinda). This is a seriously emotional gut-wrenching BUT oh-so-worth it read.

This one took me to the edge, dropped me over it dangling by a thread, and looped me back in. I don't know where these two authors came from and how they co-wrote this piece, but it was so well told and spun, it was literally breathtaking. I'm still out of breath. And words.

Hands down. One of the best I've read.

Archer is so engrained in my head, this book will never, ever leave me.

I was so very, very, very fortunate that Haley Jenner found me. I am forever in their debt of their books and will forever bow at their feet... or something.